Research proposal
How do I submit my research proposal?
Answer ID 3555 | Last updated on 12/03/2024 01.01 PM
Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students must provide a research proposal for approval to the Graduate Research School (GRS), which includes the research question, the methodological approach with rationale, and the nature of your research output. For a thesis including creative work, your research proposal should explain the relationship between your creative work and your exegesis.
Your research proposal should be 15 pages or less and must include the following sections:
Section A: Project Title and Summary
Title: Choose a title for your project that reflects your research question in one succinct phrase. Your title should include your key words. You may find it useful to review some thesis titles in your research area in the UWA Research Repository. Your title can be revised over the course of your candidature.
Summary: Provide a succinct overview of your project and clearly indicate why your proposed research is important, what your project aims to address, and how the project will be undertaken.
Section B: Research Project
Describe the purpose of your project and what it aims to achieve. Clearly indicate how the project is significant and addresses an important problem. State the topic of your research. Frame this as a problem or question that you will answer.
Provide the background or context for your project to assist the reader in understanding the significance of your research. Refer only to key references in your research area - you will write a more comprehensive literature review for your thesis.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students should clearly indicate how the project is original. One of the assessment criteria for a PhD is that it provides an original contribution to knowledge of the subject.
Outline your methods, conceptual framework, or design as relevant to your discipline. Describe the specific techniques or procedures you propose to use to collect and analyse your data. Convince your reader that these techniques or procedures are appropriate for the type of study you are proposing and show how these distinct techniques will be used.
Section C: Supervision
Provide a list of the proposed supervisors and their percentage contribution to your supervision. For each supervisor, include a brief description of their role.
How do I submit my research proposal?
- Login to HDRhub using your student ID.
- Go to 'My project', 'Research proposal', and 'Create new application'.
- Follow the prompts and upload your completed research proposal.
You will be asked to enter your advisory panel members, completion plan, ORCID ID, project budget, research classification codes, and skills analysis and training plan in HDRhub.
If you are enrolled in the Doctor of Architecture (Design), Doctor of Juridical Science, Doctor Musical Arts, or PhD, you will be also be asked to provide your tasks to be completed and timeline within which they must be completed to in order to have your candidature successfully confirmed.
Before your research proposal can be approved, you must have meaningful and appropriate supervision, completed the Academic Conduct and Research Integrity (ACRI9000) unit within the first six months of commencement in your course, obtained or be in the process of obtaining all necessary approvals from UWA ethics and other committees, and have provided all confidentiality agreements, research agreements, memoranda of understanding, and memoranda of agreement to the GRS.
Your research proposal will need to be endorsed by your Coordinating Supervisor and Graduate Research Coordinator (GRC). Allow sufficient time for your supervisors and GRC to review and endorse your research proposal. Your advisory panel must assist and advise your GRC on the review and approval of your research proposal.
You are deemed to be making satisfactory progress when, in the assessment of your supervisors and GRC, you have submitted a satisfactory research proposal within the agreed time.
Support for Writing your Research Proposal
The GRS offers monthly sessions, run by the Graduate Education Officers, to assist you in preparing your research proposal. Check the HDRhub Events Calendar for registration details.